Lessons from the Kingfisher

The Kingfisher perches himself on a branch overhanging a river. He sits still. As he lies in wait, his colours, rich artistic tones, are sharp and clear. Yet the apex of the Kingfisher’s beauty is within fluid motion, as it sweeps from its perch to snatch a fish from the river below. There is an immensely spiritual beauty within the kingfisher’s motion, as his startlingly bright colours sweep across, blurring without losing any of their brilliance and creating a flash of blue and orange. As he strikes through the water, he sends crystal fragments into the air, each reflecting his beauty in every direction, as the stillness of the water suddenly smashes and becomes an explosion of colour, like a paintbrush plunged into a pot of water. The swiftness of the kingfisher’s motion as he hunts is not simply captivating in terms of its concentrated and precise nature, but also because of the flood of activity, the swiftness of the action, the drama of a sudden explosion.

In a conveyor belt world of haste, bustle, and noise it is natural that we should seek stillness and tranquillity. However, the beauty of the kingfisher, like a wax pastel drawing struck swiftly through to create a brilliant wash of colour, can help us once again to appreciate the beauty of action, of motion, of the strike and of the kill.